In 1841, four Amish Mennonite families left their homes in southwestern Pennsylvania and traveled in horse-drawn wagons to Elkhart County, Indiana. Their journey was distinctly American, as they joined a wave of white settlers searching for new and cheaper lands where they could live, work, and worship. It was also distinctly Anabaptist, as they sought to live out complicated commitments to Christ, nonviolence, and community. In this lively narrative, historian and journalist Rich Preheim investigates the heritage and innovations of Indiana-Michigan Mennonite Conference, an area conference of Mennonite Church USA, that have profoundly shaped Mennonite faith and practice since the nineteenth century. Standing at the crossroads of tradition and change, Mennonites in Indiana and Michigan wrestle to pursue faithfulness to Christ in the twenty-first century.

Foreword

Introduction: Crossroads of Faithfulness

1. Beginnings, Both Anabaptist and American

2. The John F. Funk Era

3. Coming Together, Coming Apart

4. Threats from Without and Within

5. Expanding the Boundaries

6. The End of Isolationalism

7. The Priesthood of All Believers

8. A New Look

9. Binding and Loosing

Epilogue: Relations at the Crossroads

Appendix A: Indiana-Michigan Mennonite Conference Congregations

Appendix B: Indiana-Michigan Mennonite Conference Moderators

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Studies in Anabaptist and Mennonite History Series

The Author

The Gospel Next DoorSKU: 00387$15.99ProdMkt ProductForm: Paperback / softbackProduct SubTitle: Following Jesus Right Where You Are